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Year in Review: Ikea reveals plans, outlets bring new retail
The biggest retail story of the year came in just under the wire when Swedish retailer Ikea finally announced plans on Dec. 4 for a St. Louis store, ending what many dubbed the city’s “worst kept secret.”
The 380,000-square-foot store will sit on the corner of Forest Park and Vandeventer avenues in the CORTEX district, and is expected to generate more than $100 million in sales a year.
Although Ikea won’t open until 2015, the region saw an influx of shopping this past summer with the opening of two outlet malls in Chesterfield.
After racing to complete construction, Taubman Prestige Outlets’ $150 million center and St. Louis Premium Outlets’ $100 million mall were open for business on Aug. 2 and Aug. 22, respectively. (And the latter is already working on an expansion.)
With shoppers heading west to St. Louis County, Macy’s Inc. shuttered its downtown St. Louis store in August after consolidating several years ago.
On the public company front, Build-A-Bear Workshop’s founder, Maxine Clark, passed the reigns to CEO Sharon Price John, who continued to lead the company’s turnaround, including the closing of weaker stores and opening “stores of the future.”
And in November, St. Louis spawned another public company as Chesterfield-based Kellwood Co. spun off Vince, which raised $200 million in its IPO on Nov. 22, though CEO Jill Granoff and team will be based in New York.
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BLACK BOOK – Market Insights: Week of 1/4/2022
Wholesale Prices, Week Ending January 1st
2021 was a wild ride, but the final two weeks of the year reported minimal declines in values after a year of record-breaking increases. Not only did values soften, but sales rates also dropped with buyers stepping back from the high floors set by the sellers.
This Week Last Week 2017-2019 Average (Same Week)
Car segments -0.10% -0.08% -0.57%
Truck & SUV segments +0.01% +0.02% -0.57%
Market -0.03% -0.01% -0.57%
- On a volume-weighted basis, the overall Car segment decreased -0.10%. For reference, the previous week, cars decreased by -0.08%.
- Compact Cars decreased for a fifth consecutive week, -0.20% after the prior week’s decline of -0.32%.
- Mid-Size Cars continue to increase. This past week’s increase of +0.04% marks the twentieth week of gains for an average weekly increase of +0.59%.
- The Prestige Luxury Car (+0.18%) segment also reported an increase this past week. By comparison, in the same week in 2019 reported a decline of -0.63%.
Truck / SUV Segments
- The volume-weighted, overall Truck segment increased +0.01%, compared to the prior week’s increase of +0.02%.
- Full-Size Vans reported another week of gains, increasing +0.41%. This now marks the forty-eighth increase in the last forty-nine weeks.
- The other two van segments, Compact and Minivan, also reported increases of +0.28% and +0.49%, respectively.
- The smaller Sub-Compact (-0.14%) and Compact Crossover (-0.31%) segments declined last week, while Mid-Size (+0.03%) and Full-Size (+0.11%) Crossover/SUV segments continued to increase.
Weekly Wholesale Index
Calendar year 2020 ended with used wholesale prices at elevated levels. With economic patterns (including the automotive market) driven by the pandemic, normal seasonal patterns (e.g., 2019 calendar year) in the wholesale market were not observed for most of the year. We saw a similar picture in 2009, at the end of the Great Recession. Calendar year 2021 has not had typical seasonality patterns as the market has had rapid increases in wholesale values for the majority of the year. After reaching record heights at the end of June, wholesale prices began to decline at a rate higher than the typical seasonal decline through July and most of August. As we moved into the Fall season, wholesale prices began to show positive movement once again. As calendar year 2021 has ended, wholesale prices started to stabilize, however still at noticeably elevated levels compared to prior calendar years. The Wholesale Weekly Price Index reached the highest point of the year last week, once again, this time reporting over 1.51 points.The graph below looks at trends in wholesale prices of 2-6-year-old vehicles, indexed to the first week of the year.
Retail (Used and New) Insights
- CES, the world’s largest annual technology trade show, kicked off this week and electric vehicles are expected to take center stage with the unveiling of many vehicles including the electric Chevrolet Silverado and Chrysler Airflow. In addition, Vietnamese EV maker, VinFast, and the Turkey Automobile Enterprise Group are expected to make their debut in the US.
- Ford has stopped taking reservations for the F-150 Lightning after they hit 200,000. The all-electric pick-up truck is expected to be assembled at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center with shipments beginning in the coming months.
- Hyundai Motor Group closed their research and development center for combustion engines in South Korea as they look to shift their focus to electric powertrain development.
- BMW confirmed EPA range ratings for the i4 sedan and iX crossover – both EVs top 300 miles of range in at least some versions.
Used Retail Prices
With the proliferation of ‘no-haggle pricing’ for used-vehicle retailing, asking prices accurately measure trends in the retail space. Retail demand slowed down at the end of 2020, and thus resulted in declining retail asking prices for the last several weeks of the year. As demand rebounded, retail prices lagged slightly behind wholesale prices, but March had an accelerated growth in retail prices. In April and May, retail prices picked up speed as demand accelerated, fueled by stimulus payments, tax season, and shortages of new inventory. During the third quarter, retail prices continued to rise at a slower rate but have since picked up. In Q4, prices on retail listings have steadily increased week after week. As 2021 ends, the retail listing price index closed 36% above where the year began. The scarcity of both new and used inventory in the market continues to fuel these consistent increases.This analysis is based on approximately two million vehicles listed for sale on U.S. dealer lots. The graph below looks at 2-6-year-old vehicles.
Used retail listings ended at the lowest point recorded throughout year, around 16% below where 2021 started. As we head into 2022, we can hopefully only go up from here, as dealers start preparing for spring market.
Days-to-turn for used retail listings slightly increased over the last few months of 2021. Now in 2022, days-to-turn sits just above 38 days.
Generally, in the fourth quarter, auction lanes can be exciting, with incentives and plenty of inventory to choose from. As 2021 came to a close, auction lanes were a drastically different environment. A lack of lease returns, rentals, and repossessions has made for an extremely scarce market leading to high floor prices and hesitant buyers, fearful of being left holding the bag on high priced inventory. Hopefully, as we head into the new year, new vehicle inventory will begin flowing back in so there is some sense of normalcy.
The weekly estimated average sales rate dropped dramatically, now at 60%, after showing some stability at the end of 2021. This is similar to the drop seen at the end of calendar year 2020.
Originally posted on F&I and Showroom

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- Giphy, the online database and search engine for looped image animations, is said to be planning a test of sponsored GIFs as a way to monetize its service. That means sponsored GIFs may appear among other images in the search results of desktop and mobile users, TechCrunch reported, citing an unnamed source.
- In some ways, sponsored search results may resemble Google's manner of featuring relevant ad links alongside the list of search results, per TechCrunch. Giphy didn't confirm a timeline to introduce sponsored GIFs, but COO Adam Leibsohn told TechCrunch that the company has shifted focus from growth to building ad products.
- Giphy has 200 million daily active users for its website and application program interface (API) that lets developers incorporate the GIF library into their apps, including Apple's iMessage and Facebook Messenger. The platform has about 250 million monthly active users, which means the most of its users are interacting with the service every day.
Giphy has ample opportunity to sell sponsorships, especially to film studios and broadcasters whose video clips are frequently transformed into GIFs that people share on social media and messaging platforms. While people tend to search for clips that convey a particular emotion or reaction rather than a specific brand, advertisers could sponsor a GIF that has a positive association with their brand. For example, a GIF that portrays hunger could find sponsorships from restaurant chains or snack brands. Just this week, sneaker brand Converse enlisted "Stranger Things" start Millie Bobby Brown to create 32 GIFs evoking the many different emotions kids feel heading back to school.
The animated images also have the ability to generate viral publicity as people share them with friends and followers at a high volume. Giphy appears to be taking a page out of Snapchat's book, with its sponsored filters frequently shared among friends, making them more likely to be watched by users than direct ads from an advertiser.
Giphy's website also draws traffic among people who may not be seeking a specific GIF, but are curious to see what's trending online. More than 50% of people who visit the company's site are there to browse, Giphy told TechCrunch. The company could leverage that kind of consumer behavior and sell native ads on its site to brand marketers, as people watch more than 4 million hours of GIFs on the platform every day, according to Business Insider. In addition to creating GIFs for broadcasters and studios, the company also has the ability to "live-gif" major events like awards shows for timely content. Giphy now creates those GIFs for no charge, but could develop licensing deals at some point to monetize those events.
In 2015, the company rolled out standalone app Giphy Cam, which lets users quickly create their own GIFs. And though this type of peer-to-peer native content brings about an unclear vision of its role in the advertising mix, Giphy has become an ingrained part of the way consumers communicate on mobile.


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Transparency and reducing our environmental footprint are the foundations of Lecta’s commitment as a socially responsible company.
Voith Paper Chile’s new roll cover facility is set to be installed alongside the unit that has been operating in the region of Concepción, Chile, since 2006, and is due to enter service in the second half of this year.
The Pro Carton Young Designers Award offers young designers from across Europe the opportunity to make their ideas public throughout Europe. As of 27th May, Pro Carton is showcasing the Young Designers’ new concepts online at www.procarton.com. And then it’s up to you : vote, follow, like, share, comment, involve friends and promote the favourite designs at #pcyda16 ! And win an iPad Air in the process.
Due to a stronger global market and solid demand, Södra will increase its market price for NBSK deliveries in Europe to USD 830/tonne, effective from June 1 2016.
“Recent market statistics support the positive signals we had already noticed : The softwood pulp market is strong and we anticipate the market will tighten even further”, said Magnus Björkman, Vice President Södra Cell.
Stora Enso’s Executive Vice President & Head of the Consumer Board division, Jari Latvanen, is to leave Stora Enso latest in November 2016 to take up the position of President and CEO at HKScan Corporation, headquartered in Finland.
A new pilot facility known as a slurry hydrocracking plant is currently being built at SP ETC in Piteå to produce green fuels based on forestry products. It will contribute to the aim of making the transport sector fossil fuel-free by 2030.
“The plant will contribute to the development of viable new technologies for conversion of e.g. lignin to hydrocarbons, suitable for downstream processing in a traditional refinery. Here institutes, academia and the business community can test and verify different concepts before they become commercially available,” says Professor Olov Öhrman, head of research at SP ETC in Piteå.
UPM-Kymmene Corporation is proceeding with the plan to change its corporate structure in Finland to better match its current business structure.
Holmen is investing in a pressure treatment plant and a distribution warehouse at Braviken Sawmill outside Norrköping. The investment is estimated to amount to SEK 50 million.
At the enf of April, Fibria shipped 20,000 tons of eucalyptus pulp acquired from Klabin to Asia.
Valmet will supply Södra Cell Mönsterås pulp and paper mill in Sweden a recovery boiler upgrade and an evaporation line upgrade. The delivery is scheduled for the fall 2016.
As a proven manufacturer of high quality coated speciality papers, Mitsubishi HiTec Paper continues to follow the path of innovation and investment.
As announced in mid-March, Madison paper mill in the US has ceased paper production on May 21.
In an international comparison, Swedes stand out as the most positive about a more cellulose-based society, a transition that is necessary for a sustainable future. From an international perspective, however, this development appears to provoke strongly polarized reactions. The view of the forest and its role in our society touches us, and awakens strong feelings around the world. This is revealed in the report Innventia is presenting today. In the report, 2,500 consumers from five countries have had their say on how best to arrive at a more sustainable and circular society.
Atlanta-based Crown Paper Group has promoted Colin Fernie to president of its Port Townsend Paper and Crown Corrugated subsidiaries.
Visiting MIAC (12.13.14 October 2016) means obtaining a full overview of the technology and equipment available to the paper industry sector
Valmet will deliver a recausticizing upgrade to Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper mill in Novodvinsk, Russia
premieres the M6 Digital Flexo press at drupa 2016. With specific configurations for folding carton and flexible packaging production, the M6 offers high productivity and low running costs.
Using wood more efficiently to meet projected demand for wood-based products in Europe should be at the heart of the European Commission’s bioenergy strategy and circular economy.
MARECHAL ELECTRIC is launching a new series of application brochures.
On 19th May 2016 Huhtamaki announced its acquisition of Delta Print & Packaging.
Company will supply corrugated board boxes that will be used throughout the state of São Paulo.
Valmet has defined new action plans for its sustainability agenda for 2016-2018. The action plans include detailed actions and targets for each sustainability focus area.
Customer offering strengthened within design and architecture
On May 19, 2016, Dr. Jan Klingele, Managing Partner of Klingele Papierwerke started his two year term as FEFCO President, succeeding Roberto Villaquiran, who after four years had served the maximum possible time. Jean Paul Macharis, VPK, and Nina Iversen, Glomm Papp, were newly elected as Vice Presidents. Roberto Villaquiran, departing president, will continue to support Jan Klingele as Vice President.


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The United States’ Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA recently made CBD oils a bit more governmentally unlawful in a barely noticed bureaucratic move at the end of last year. The federal register from December 2016 has a paragraph that determines a new drug rule for marijuana extracts.
According to DEA’s administrators, this rule will allow the authorities and other registered organizations to track amounts of CBD oils independently from those of marijuana. The idea, the legislators said, is designed to bring all states into conformity with worldwide drug control agreements.
There are no significant modifications in the law introduced by these new decrees. Rather, they were created to explain and strengthen the DEA’s stance regarding all weed ingredients, such as CBD oils. Their stance is that they are all governmentally unlawful type I components. Extracts of cannabis will keep being handled as type I managed ingredients, the law says.
CBD oil based on hemp is currently widely available at a national level via websites and catalog shopping services. Those functions resist on the supposition that cannabidiol items below the lawful limit for THC amount in hemp (at 0.3% and less) are officially legal. In DEA’s discussion about the access to these substances, its representatives answered to the question why it is just cannabidiol (CBD) but not the rest of cannabinoids?
The enforcers’ response was that, for realistic reasons, all ingredients that contain CBD would also have at least some amount of various cannabinoids. But, if is possible to create from weed an extract that includes only CBD but no other cannabinoid, such a product would be the subject of the new rules about drugs and therefore be federally unlawful.
To put it simpler, the authorities are certain that they can discover enough evidence of another cannabinoid in CBD oils in order to arrest or take legal action against the owners. If they cannot do it, they have the possibility of arresting or accusing using the CBD oils themselves. If a product with CBD is based on hemp, this does not matter anymore to the authorities.
The new ingredients categorization is applicable to any extract that has been made from a species related to weed and that contains cannabinoids or cannabidiols. Hemp oil does not fall into another category, even it might be a different species, with many contradictions regarding that. Lawfully discussing, hemp is basically marijuana with up to 0.3% THC in it.
The new concept seems to explain the DEA’s stance on hemp-based CBD oil, which was in a legally dubious area after the Congress’ passing previous laws on this subject. That regulation permitted certain regions to cultivate hemp in certain conditions and stopped governmental authorities (meaning DEA) from disrupting state organizations, hemp producers, and farming research.
What DEA’s representatives seem to be implying with this explanation is that people might be allowed to cultivate hemp. But if they try to produce CBD oils from it, the authorities see that as criminal activity. The regulation did not have any sign as to how the DEA could apply these measures and start punishing those who use such supplements
Even if the DEA views CBD oils as unlawful type I drugs, there are short-term safety measures taken in order to protect sufferers in many areas from governmental actions against over ownership of the CBD oils. The recent change is among the most significant of those measures. Initially approved three years ago, the modification to a Congress bill prevents the authorities from spending money to affect the application of state medicinal marijuana rules, but it does not mention anything about adult-usage regulations.
In the summer of 2016, a court upheld the amendment following an issue brought by governmental prosecutors. This change is a key piece of regulation stopping governmental authorities from acting against sufferers for having CBD items in 28 states that legalized medical weed. Furthermore, other states approved CBD-only rules that let patients or care providers have non-psychoactive products with CBD.
These CBD-only rules usually do not permit lawful opportunity to produce and obtain the items, however. The amendment must be restored every year and if it is not, its safety measures disappear. The change was renewed at the end of last year, as a part of a continuous series of legislation, which funds US government’s measures in this regard. When this renewal ends, so do the rights provided by the specific regulations, unless it is restored once again.
It is uncertain whether the current activity is an indication from the federal authorities that want to change their stance under the new presidential administration or it is some kind of restoration until other legislative modifications will be made in the near future. This regulation, after all, completes a suggested rulemaking note that initially showed up in 2011.


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Perth will be showcased as the host of the 40th annual Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) in April 2019.
Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP said Perth was set to benefit from an immediate injection of visitors attending ATE and over the longer term attract more international visitors.
“ATE is Australia’s largest annual event for building tourism opportunities in Australia and an incredibly important event for the Australian tourism industry,” said the Minister.
“No other event provides the same opportunity for Australian tourism businesses to personally connect with tourism buyers from all over the world.”
“Collectively, the international travel wholesalers and retailers who attend ATE bring close to three million visitors to Australia each year with an estimated pre-booked spend of between $5.5 and $8.5 billion as well as the on-ground spend in Australia.”
“ATE19 will help to grow Australia’s $100 billion tourism industry and significantly contribute towards achieving our Tourism 2020 goal of more than $115 billion in overnight visitor expenditure,” he said.
“Western Australia welcomed more than 945,000 international visitors in 2017 and this event will help to grow this number, as well as boost to the Perth economy.”
Western Australian Minister for Tourism, the Hon Paul Papalia said Perth is perfectly positioned to host ATE19 as the unprecedented hotel and event infrastructure development in WA’s cosmopolitan capital comes to fruition.
“We’ve seen Perth, Australia’s sunniest capital city, transform into one of the nation’s most interesting destinations with a vibrant city life surrounded by nature, and ATE19 will be our time to really shine for an international audience,” said Papalia.
“We want Perth to be one of the most desirable leisure, and business events, destinations across the world, and ATE19 gives us an extraordinary opportunity to position ourselves as Australia’s Western Gateway.”
Tourism Australia will work in conjunction with Tourism Western Australia to deliver ATE19 from 8 to 12 April.
This will be the fourth time ATE has been hosted in Perth, with the event last being hosted in the city in 2012.
More than 550 Australian tourism businesses will attend ATE19 and showcase their products and services to over 650 agents who sell Australian holidays internationally.


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Sony announced that the sequel to Guacamelee, the zany and colourful platformer, will be heading to the PlayStation 4 soon.
Along with the announcement that Guacamelee 2 would be releasing soon, Sony also revealed a new trailer announcing the game’s return. And yes, it’s just as weird and wonderful as you would expect. It seems evil is once again terrorising the people and it’s up to Juan to save the day again.
We’ll have to wait and see if the game finds its way onto other platforms at a later stage. Personally, we would love to see it launch on the Switch.
The original Guacamelee released way back in 2013 and made quite a splash, thanks to its addictive platforming and colourful worlds.


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Farming and ranching census deadline approaches
Central Coast farmers and ranchers have just a few days left to be counted by the USDA Census of Agriculture. The data could impact funding for agricultural research and nutrition programs.
The USDA Census of Agriculture gathers data once every five years, and farmers and ranchers can submit the questionnaire by mail or online. The effort collects a wide range of data about who's growing what, how much and where. The census tracks the age and gender of farmers and whether they are veterans.
Michael Dimock is president of Roots of Change, a group that's backed efforts to boost access to local produce for low-income Californians. He says it's critical for smaller farmers - like those who sell at farmers markets - to be counted by the census because there's a ripple effect with federal funding.
"And if certain sectors of the farm community - the ranchers, peri-urban, smaller farmers, farmers that sell to consumers thru farmers markets - if they don't show up on the census, the programs that support those farmers are not going to get funded or they're going to get reduced funding," Dimock said.
Programs like 'Market Match,' which allow low-income shoppers to double their money when they buy produce at farmers markets.
The census survey is due by Monday, February 5.


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Indonesian Ambassador to Khartoum Sunarko accompanied by PF. On Wednesday (4/1) the Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum received a visit from the Executive Manager of Petroleum Products Co. Ltd. (Safe Petroleum), Mr. Anwar Qasm Elsaeed Ali Othman and Marketing Manager for Aman Petroleum, Mr. Aeed Fathulalim at the Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum.
The meeting was aimed at encouraging and opening up opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between Aman Petroleum and various companies in Indonesia. Aman Petroleum is a Sudanese private company engaged in the sale and distribution of oil and gas in Sudan. The company has been established since 1994 and currently has 40 gas stations in 12 states in Sudan to distribute fuel.
During the meeting it was discussed, among other things, that Aman Petroleum is currently planning to expand its business through cooperation with Indonesian tire suppliers, not only for business expansion purposes in Sudan, but also to meet the needs of its transportation fleet.
The Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum is committed to continuing to oversee and facilitate business contacts between Aman Petroleum and Indonesian tire suppliers as an effort to enhance trade cooperation between the two countries.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Khartoum, Sudan.


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We just got our hands on Samsung's Galaxy S5 smartphone. Here's what's in the box.
A fault that temporarily prevented Aldi Mobile some customers from using cellular data services has been resolved according to a spokesperson for the MVNO.
Cool Yule Tools 2013: Our Tester Elf-approved picks for awesome gadgety goodness
Virgin Mobile has followed Vodafone's lead by announcing it will double data on selected plans as part of a Christmas promotion, but the offer will only apply to two postpaid plans.
Vodafone has announced it will double its monthly data inclusions on a selected range of month-to-month voice plans and 12-and 24-month contract plans.
Google has already exhausted its first stock allocations of the black Nexus 5 Android smartphone, just hours after the device went on sale in Australia.
Samsung has officially announced the Australian launch of its Galaxy S4 Zoom smartphone, but the device will not be sold through traditional telco carriers.
BlackBerry's new Z30 smartphone is on sale in Australia now through Optus business, while the flagship device will hit Telstra, Optus and Harvey Norman retail stores in the coming weeks.
Vodafone has announced it will allow existing prepaid customers to access its 4G network from today, before opening up the network to new prepaid customers from mid-November.
HTC has announced that its mid-range Desire 601 smartphone will be sold exclusively in Australia through Vodafone.
It's been rumoured for quite some time, but Samsung has become the first manufacturer to officially launch a smartphone with a curved display.
SBS has today announced the availability of its catch-up TV application, On Demand, for Android smartphones and tablets, but the app is initially exclusive to Samsung devices.
LG has today announced that its new Optimus L2 II dual-SIM smartphone will be exclusively sold through Optus and its retail partners from this month, but the primary SIM card slot on the device will be locked to the Optus network.
Vodafone will add 34 European countries to its $5 a day option for international roaming from next week, expanding on its original availability in the US, UK and New Zealand.
Telstra has become the first major telco in Australia to launch plans that allow consumers to share data across multiple devices, but will charge a $10 monthly fee just to enable the service.
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Shortly after announcing plans to give its Prime membership accounts free one-day shipping, Amazon is now offering employees up to $10,000 USD to launch their own delivery businesses. As reported by TechCrunch, the move falls under the company’s recently-initiated Delivery Service Partner program and would also cover up to three months worth of pay for the tech giant’s employees.
According to Amazon, $10,000 USD is enough to cover the start-up costs for its delivery services, in which employees and other entrepreneurs have access to branded Prime vans, uniforms and discounts on insurance and gas. By operating at least 40 vehicles, the company estimates that business owners can earn up to $300,000 USD per year through the program, which originally launched in June 2018.
The employee-specific benefits have currently been rolled out in the U.S., the U.K. and Spain.
Reportedly, Amazon also has plans to extend into music streaming with a high fidelity-powered service.


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The highly anticipated Final Fantasy 7 Remake is officially available for worldwide preload on PlayStation consoles. With the game set to launch on April 10, Square ..
Final Fantasy 7 is one of the most beloved games ever made, and one of the weirdest. From comical mis-translations to offbeat mini-games, and plot-points you’d ..
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Moscow - MegaFon, Russia’s second-largest wireless operator, agreed to buy at least $600 million (R6.4 billion) of equipment from Huawei Technologies at a time when ties between Russian and Chinese companies are strengthening.
MegaFon chose China’s largest maker of network products for a seven-year contract to speed mobile networks in several Russian territories, chief strategy officer Alexander Bashmakov said in a phone interview.
The deal, including software and maintenance, is worth “dozens of billion rubles,” he said.
Russia companies have boosted ties to China after the US and European Union imposed sanctions on the country to punish it for annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
Gazprom, Russia’s biggest company, signed a $400 billion deal last month to ship gas to China.
“Huawei is one of the technological leaders in 4G equipment,” Bashmakov said.
“They are leading in the number of signed contracts with operators. The Russian market is very competitive in equipment prices, unlike the US where supplies of Chinese equipment are limited.”
MegaFon based its choice of Shenzen, China-based Huawei on financial and technological factors rather than politics, Bashmakov said. MegaFon, controlled by Russia’s richest man Alisher Usmanov and part-owned by TeliaSonera AB, will use a credit line from China Development Bank to fund the purchases.
President Vladimir Putin is turning eastward as the US and EU sanctions batter the Russian economy.
Putin visited China last month to strengthen ties with the country, Russia’s largest trading partner, after two-way trade surged sevenfold in the past decade to about $94 billion last year.
On May 20, a unit of Usmanov’s mining company Metalloinvest announced a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s Hopu Investment Management, saying they plan a joint development of a copper deposit.
On May 22, billionaire Gennady Timchenko said China is prepared to finance most of Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas project, Yamal LNG.
Usmanov has sold most of his Facebook Inc. shares and expects to benefit from investments in China’s Internet giants Alibaba Group and JD.com, Ivan Streshinskiy, head of the billionaire’s asset-management company USM Advisors, said in March.
MegaFon, based in Moscow, is continuing talks with other network providers for other regions, Bashmakov said.
At least seven vendors were ready to supply equipment, he said.
The carrier previously used equipment from Huawei and Finland’s Nokia to build 2G and 3G networks.
Closely held Huawei’s rivals also include Sweden’s Ericsson and France’s Alcatel-Lucent.
MegaFon has said it plans at least $5.2 billion capital spending in 2013 through 2015.
The carrier trails billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov’s Mobile TeleSystems in Russia.
“The era of highly-priced purchases is over,” Bashmakov said.
“Instead, vendors in Russia have to agree on lower margins and long-term co-operation.” - Bloomberg News


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Samsung Electronics Co said on Monday it would unveil the third-generation of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S on May 3 in London, banking on a heavy marketing campaign heading into the summer Olympics in the city.
Samsung became the world’s top smartphone maker last year on the back of strong sales of Galaxy lineups and the latest edition comes after it released Galaxy S II in late April last year.
The South Korean firm sold over 40 million Galaxy smartphones since the model was released in June 2010.
Samsung, which dominates in the top end of smartphone market along with Apple Inc, estimated earlier this month that its first-quarter operating profit would hit a record 5.8 trillion Korean won thanks to strong sales of Galaxy series smartphones.
Its current sponsorship deal with the International Olympics Committee runs out in 2016. It has said its market share in China doubled after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It was reported earler this week that Samsung Electronics Co, Apple’s biggest competitor in the market for iPad-sized tablet computers, is updating its line to include a feature that lets a tablet act as a universal remote control for an entertainment center.
The storage space on the new Galaxy Tab 2 will also be expandable with small memory cards. The tablets will come in two sizes. The 7-inch version will cost $250 and goes on sale April 22. The 10-inch version will cost $400 and goes on sale May 13.
India-based cellphone maker Lava International has launched world’s first Intel’s Atom processor based smartphone Xolo X900.
Announced at the Mobile World Congress in Spain in February end, the feature-packed Xolo X900 has been priced at Rs 22,000. Intel now plans to launch a number of other Atom-based smartphones in partnership with Motorola, Lenovo, Orange and ZTE beginning later this year, all of which will run on Google Android.
Lava Xolo X900 is based on Intel’s smartphone reference design of Atom Z2460 micro-processor with Intel’s hyper-threading technology and has a clock speed of 1.6 Ghz. This makes it the world’s fastest processor in any mobile device in the world, claims Intel.
Lava Xolo X900 smartphone features 4.03-inch LCD display and an 8 megapixel rear camera. There’s also a front-facing camera for video chat. Other features include Near Field Communication ( NFC), HDMI connectivity and full 1080 HD video shoot and playback. Lava also promises a good battery life of up to five hours of 3G browsing, 45 hours of audio and 8 hours of talk-time on the phone.
It promises fast browsing, multi-tasking, top-of-the-line graphics, and an intuitive user interface developed in close partnership with Intel.
Xolo X900 also supports HSPA+ and Intel’s XMM 6260 Platform. The phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, capable of over-the-air upgrade to Android Icre Cream Sandwich later this year.
Significantly, Intel India’s engineering team in Bangalore played a major role in designing and development of Lava Xolo X900.
The launch of Xolo X90o marks Intel’s entry into the smartphone business which has so far been overwhelmingly dominated by lesser-known microprocessor makers like ARM Technologies and Qualcomm, besides other players like Nvidia, Texas Instruments and Broadcom.
Lava has also entered a long-term retail partnership with Croma for promotion and sale of the XOLO X900.
“Through Xolo X900, we are happy to bring to the Indian market a device that addresses the needs of those for whom speed and performance matters. After our success in feature phones with over 10 million happy customers in under three years, Xolo will be a differentiated player in the fast-growing smartphone segment. The initial reviews have been very positive and independent benchmarks clearly point to the fact that when it comes to speed and performance, Xolo X900 is the gold standard,” said Vishal Sehgal, co-founder and director, Lava International.
“The first smartphone with Intel inside is now available to Indian consumers,” said Mike Bell, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the mobile and communications group. “The boundaries of personal computing are expanding. As we enter the India market with our first smartphone from Lava, the device not only showcases the rich capabilities and user benefits of Intel computing, but also highlights the exciting possibilities of what’s still to come.”
Xolo X900 will be available for buying from Croma stores and online at Xolo.in from April 23, followed by availability in other retail chains, general trade and online stores from early May.
Canadian smartphone maker Research In Motion on Wednesday launched its youth-oriented Curve 9220 in India.
Priced at Rs 10,990, the latest Curve is an affordable low-end smartphone targeted at young consumers as against the enterprise BlackBerry consumers.
The Curve 9220 is a basic, entry-level BlackBerry phone, however it will have to compete against a number of feature-rich Android touch-phones already available in the market in the same price bracket.
But RIM officials are confident that Curve 9220’s user interface, the BBM advantage and longer battery life will attract the young buyers to this model. RIM does not have any immediate plan of bundling the handset with data plans from various telecom operators.
BlackBerry Curve 9220 features a 2.44-inch (320×240 pixels) TFT display with QWERTY keypad. Other specifications include a 2 megapixel camera, FM radio, Wi-Fi connectivity, expandable memory up to 32GB using a microSD card and a 2.44-inch QVGA display.
Well, the good news is that Nokia has finally started shipping its new Symbian Belle based smartphone which the company announced last month. Two handsets including the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 are expected to hit the Indian market in the coming few weeks.
LG has expanded its Optimus series with the unveiling of QWERTY slider Optimus Q2. Sporting a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen with 800×480 resolution, the phone features In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology for brighter display.
Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of the popular BlackBerry smartphones, on Wednesday launched a high-end model, BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone, priced at Rs 28,490, featuring the new BlackBerry 7 operating system.
“The BlackBerry Torch 9860 features many new enhancements, including the next generation BlackBerry 7 operating system and we think customers will be particularly thrilled by its faster performance,” RIM India Managing Director Frenny Bawa said.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 tablet is loaded with the Google Android Honeycomb OS (v3.1) and has a Dual band support. Fastest 3G connectivity option gives the freedom to stay connected with the internet world.
Samsung GALAXY Tab 750 gives you a better experience for work and play. Sharper HD quality screen, better web browsing with flash, better multitasking, and even better speed with HSPA. More possibilities on the go.
Nokia C2-03 is a Dual SIM with Touch and Type phone recently launched. The Nokia C2-03 is a slider Touch and Type S40 device, remembers up to 5 SIM cards settings and comes with easy to swap SIM feature.
The C2-03 is the third touch and type phone from. Featuring 240 x 320 pixels screen resolution the Nokia C2-03 sports a 2 MP camera, video recording, music player and can play music up to 35 hours.
Stay in touch wherever you are! Samsung’s Ch@t222 comes with DUOS so users can access dual SIM cards for more convenient calling, better savings and better network coverage. It comes with all the social tools you’ll need to connect with friends, such as Facebook, Twitter, Push IM and email! Socialise on the go, and entertain yourself, too, with your favourite music or fun games you can download from Samsung Apps!
Nokia C2-02 comes with great apps such as Nokia Browser and Nokia Maps, so it’s easy to check Facebook or find your way around town. Plus find many more fun and practical apps at the Store. Use your finger to scroll through websites, photos and music on the 2.6” display. And unlike many touch-screen phones, there’s a slide-out keypad for fast, easy typing – just like you’re used to.
Let your friends know what you’re up to – send email through Hotmail, Gmail and others. Or see what’s happening on Facebook and Twitter from the same view.


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Lithuania, March 27,
PAYSTRAX has partnered with DisputeHelp to offer their merchants dispute management solutions against transaction disputes, chargebacks and fraud
Partnering with DisputeHelp creates a new revenue stream for PAYSTRAX, in return, PAYSTRAX merchants can deflect disputes, avoid chargebacks, and recover revenue from first-party fraud through their online banking portal.DisputeHelp combines the most powerful tools available in the payments ecosystem into a single, easy-to-use endpoint. "Our solution gives merchants access to the latest fraud and dispute innovations, all in one place," says Bart Szypkowski, DisputeHelp's Head of Business Development. "They are automatically enrolled in exciting new products like Visa's Compelling Evidence 3.0, Mastercard's Acquirer Collaboration, Verifi's RDR automation, and Ethoca Alerts." About DisputeHelp DisputeHelp is a global leader in dispute management services for acquirers and service providers commercial. Their solutions offer brand-agnostic fraud diversion, pre-chargeback alerts, chargeback representation, and much more. For more information, visit www.disputehelp.comAbout PAYSTRAX PAYSTRAX offers merchants innovative payment services ranging from conventional payment card processing, point-of-sale terminals and gateways, to fully customized solutions tailored to business needs. of your clients. PAYSTRAX has offices in the UK and Lithuania and holds a MasterCard and Visa Principal Member license. For more information, visit www.paystrax.com.
ContactContact name: Bart SzypkowskiContact description: Bart SzypkowskiContact phone: 48 505245088


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Fitbit dives into all-day heart-rate tracking with its new Charge HR and Surge, but you'll have to wait until early 2015 to buy them. We went wrists-on.
CNET breaks out the most important things to know when shopping for a new television.
Chinese company Apus has released its pared-down Android launcher to massive international success. But it's doing it without focusing on the Chinese market. We sat down with founder Li Tao to find out why.
This giant gaming desktop holds three graphics cards and five hard drives within its unique pyramid shape.
Apple Pay or merchants' CurrentC? Consumers will have to decide which mobile payments system works better for them.
The reality TV star says she still uses the years-old BlackBerry Bold -- and keeps three replacements available at all times in case her phone breaks.
Google tells CNET about its choice to go with a more traditional distribution approach as it pushes its flagship smartphone to mainstream consumers.
Good Old Games (aka GOG.com) has teamed with Disney Interactive to bring popular LucasArts games from the '90s to modern computers.
A new kind of jewellery uses a pico projector to create an interactive play of light across the wearer's neck.
The FI9826P's unnecessarily tedious setup process, old-school Web interface and lack of push notifications seriously stunt this otherwise impressive Wi-Fi camera.


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Chicken feet exports to China, which at one point brought in $278 million for the United States, has become a rather facetious-sounding sparring ground for very serious trade conflicts between the two countries. Yes, chicken feet in China -- a poultry appendage that has seemingly no value here in the U.S. but is in demand in China -- are the reason the United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk is currently pleading for World Trade Organization intervention between the world's two largest economies. From personal experience, you can find those poultry extremities in dim sum restaurants where they're deep-fried to the color of burnt caramel and drenched in a sweet-spicy-salty sauce. You'll also find lots of people making faces when presented with a plateful of those claws. Mostly unwanted in the U.S., the export of our excess chicken feet (377,805 metric tons) to China is a business which garnered nearly $278 million in 2009. But since then, it's been a different story.
Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.


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Dealership Copes with Credit Challenges
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Alameda Boulevard is quickly becoming a new auto sales row as J.D. Byrider recently opened its second dealership in Albuquerque to serve the north side of the city.
The first one opened locally in 1979.
A national company with more 170 outlets across the country that is franchised locally by the Tillery dealerships in Los Lunas and Moriarty, J.D. Byrider is a user-car lot that specializes in helping get people into vehicles they can afford to help repair credit scores, said Vince Galvez, sales manager.
Galvez had been with the company for about 10 years after a career in retail sales.
“I started as a sales person and moved up,” he said. “I’ve made a good living at it.”
A Manzano graduate who played baseball and basketball for the Monarchs, Galvez said the company has served one million people in the last 25 years.
Vehicles are inspected on 92 points, computer checked and reconditioned before being sold, he said.
And that’s important not only for the safety of the buyer, but because the company includes two-year warranties on its vehicles, Galvez said.
“And we finance according to your budget,” he said. “If you can’t make a payment we help you so things are right. We also have low down payments so we can get you into a vehicle.”
The in-house financing also allows buyers with shaky credit to get into a vehicle because it relies on the current financial situation of the buyers, not past credit issues, Galvez said.
And the dealership even helps out those rare few who can’t qualify, he said, by providing a step-by-step plan to be able to qualify in the future.
Loans for the vehicles, which are usually 2005 to 2012 models, generally don’t longer than 3½ years, Galvez said, meaning more than half of the life of the loan is covered under warranty.
“We want people to have good, reliable transportation and to be able to repair their credit so that they will eventually be able to move up and get into a new car,” he said. Dealership copes with credit challenges.
Our Albuquerque dealership is located at 6008 Central SE and 5301 Alameda NE. Visit their website here.


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Kodama and M2 on Phantasy Star, what development was like in 1987, SEGA Ages games on Switch, lots more
Posted on 4 years ago by Oni Dino(@Oni_Dino) in News, Switch eShop | 0 comments
“I think if you play “Phantasy Star” after reading this interview, you’ll look at the game in a whole new light.”
-Naoki Horii, M2 Dev Team
Japanese website Game Watch recently sat down for an interview with three key figures from SEGA and M2 handling the SEGA AGES collection on Nintendo Switch.
The mega interview contains all kinds of details on new features to the Switch version, the incredible headaches that 80’s game development caused them, and never-before-heard stories from development of the original “Phantasy Star”, firsthand from Rieko Kodama, who was the original designer for the game. It’s a must-read for die-hard fans. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve included some discussion about the SEGA Ages series in general that you may have missed last week (with some extra comments).
We’ve prepared an exclusive translation of the in-depth interview, and hope you enjoy.
New Phantasy Star JRPG teased for mobile
Posted on 4 years ago by Bobby in Mobile, News | 0 comments
Earlier today, Sega opened a countdown website teasing the reveal of a new installment in the Phantasy Star series. It’s part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the franchise, with the official reveal coming at noon Japan time on the 24th of July.
We do know that the game will be for iOS and Android, but no further information has been given yet.


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FAISALBAD: The Anti-Smuggling Organisation has seized smuggled ceramic tiles which were being transported by a truck into the city.
Following the instructions of Faisalabad Customs Collector Tauseef Ahmad Qureshi, the ASO team including Superintendent Safdar Iqbal, Inspector Safdar Ali and others took action and foiled the smuggling bid.
As per the details, the ASO team stopped a truck bearing registration number TKJ-450 at a checkpoint established near Sumandari Road, Faisalabad, and recovered Iranian ceramic tiles weighing 43,910kg, which were allegedly being smuggled from Quetta to Faisalabad.
On asking about the import documents, the truck driver provided a cargo invoice issued by M/s Sitara Al-Usman Goods Forwarding Agency and copy of goods declaration (GD) No 9230, which were found fake/mis-declared after examination of the consignment, as the weight of tiles was not according to the weight mentioned in the GD documents.
Taking legal action, customs officials seized the smuggled tiles and impounded the truck under Section 168 and 157(2) of the Customs Act, 1969, for violation of Section 16 and 18 of the Customs Act, 1969, read with Section 3(1) 3 of Import & Export (Control) Act, 1950.
Meanwhile, the customs authorities have served a notice on the consignee under Section 171 of the Customs Act, 1969, through the truck driver, while further investigation is underway.


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Silver Spring, MD – As of Thursday, April 23, five dietary supplement companies received warning letters for their use of an unapproved stimulant in their products. The companies were accused of using BMPEA (R-beta-methylphenethylamine) as a dietary supplement ingredient. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the firms 15 business days to make the needed adjustments to the eight total products involved.
The following companies have received warning letters:
* Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for Fastin-XR (extended release), Fastin-RR (rapid release) and Lipodrene (Ephedra Free)
* Tribravus Enterprises, LLC d/b/a iForce Nutrition for Conquer (Fruit Punch Slam & Raspberry Lemonade flavors)
* Train Naked Labs LLC for Critical FX, Sudden Impact
* Better Body Sports, LLC for Phoenix Extreme
* Human Evolution Supplements, Inc. for Core Burner
Some of the warned companies claim that their BMPEA are extracted from Acacia rigidula. FDA countered in the warning letter to Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, saying they are “aware of no evidence to support an assertion that BMPEA is, in fact, a constituent of this botanical.” If BMPEA can only be made in a laboratory, then BMPEA allegedly does not fit into any definition of a dietary ingredient and is being misbranded when a company uses the ingredient in a dietary supplement.
"FDA has clearly communicated its view that this substance is not a dietary ingredient and has used its enforcement authority, as established under current federal law, to act on the basis of this finding," said Michael McGuffin, President of The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), in a statement.
FDA has also issued a statement to consumers on its Web site about the issues regarding the labeling of BMPEA, informing them about the argument against the ingredient and how long the companies have to take action.
These warnings come only a few weeks after a study was published in Drug Testing and Analysis that found BMPEA in 11 of the 21 Acacia rigidula samples tested. A similar test was conducted by FDA in 2013 and found the same ingredient in nine of the 21 samples tested. No action was taken by FDA until these warnings were issued.
As of April 8, The Vitamin Shoppe has pulled all products containing Acacia rigidula for the fear that the products may have BMPEA in them. The company cited the study from Drug Testing and Analysis as their reasoning.
Updated on 5/4/15: Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals issued a press release indicating it filed a lawsuit against the four researchers responsible for the information published in an article in Drug Testing and Analysis known as “An amphetamine isomer whole efficacy and safety in humans has never been studied, B-methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA), is found in multiple dietary supplements,” according to a press release issued by PR Newswire.
The researchers, Pieter A. Cohen, Clayton Bloszies, Caleb Yee and Roy Gerona, are being sued for $50 million in compensatory damages and $150 million in punitive damages for libel and slander. Jared Wheat, the president of Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, said that the researchers “have published and/or uttered multiple false and malicious statements about the safety of dietary supplements containing Acacia rigidula manufactured by Hi-Tech and others.”
“What most concerns me was that Mr. Cohen stated that Acacia rigidula was released in 2013 when Hi-Tech has sold Acacia-containing weight loss aids since 2003 and VPX since 2007,” Wheat said. “We were the first to launch them into the marketplace right before the banning of ephedrine alkaloids.”
Cohen, who is a Harvard professor and a self-professed weight loss expert, has argued in interviews that “there is not a single weight loss supplement on the market that is legal and that has been shown to lead to weight loss in humans.” Cohen has written several times about his beliefs that supplements are dangerous and that FDA has failed to enforce proper labeling rules, according to the press release. Cohen could not verify that the lawsuit was taking place.
Posted on 4/27/15


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Have you been to Earth Fare in Raleigh since they stopped using plastic bags? Since April, Earth Fare cut the bag habit and has started asking shoppers to bring reusable bags to the grocery store instead. Earth Fare even took it a step further to raise the bar: $.05 is donated to the Food Shuttle each time a shoppers uses a reusable bag!
We recently published our 3rd video in a series of "Cut the Bag Habit" videos! Check it out below:


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Two weeks ago, India’s Union Cabinet, the top decision-making body in India, authorized a new medical device policy to increase its domestic device production. Currently, India only makes about 1% of the world’s medical devices and this new policy aims to increase that percentage to 10% in two decades. The new device policy will focus on increasing and improving India’s device manufacturing sector, device innovation, and quicker product approvals. To jump-start this new initiative, the Indian government will now dramatically increase its investment in domestic device companies, set up an incentive program for new device production, increase the number of new device innovation centers, and foster more training of Indian device executives.
India now imports about 85% of its devices from abroad, mostly from the US, EU, and China. This new policy hopes to reduce its medical device imports over time. With friction growing between the US and China, India hopes to compete with Chinese device manufacturers. Products targeted for local production include X-ray tubes, CT and MRI machines, and other more sophisticated devices.
Written by: Ames Gross – President and Founder, Pacific Bridge Medical (PBM)
Mr. Gross founded PBM in 1988 and has helped hundreds of medical companies with regulatory and business development issues in Asia. He is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the Asian medical markets. Mr. Gross has a BA degree, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.
Source used in the article: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1919984


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The deep neural networks that power Amazon’s popular voice assistant are up for sale.
Developers will now be able to build their own virtual personal assistants for platforms like Facebook Messenger and Slack with a tool called Amazon Lex, the company announced at its Amazon Web Services Summit April 19.
If you want to build a conversation interface, Amazon says you just need to tell Lex which words to listen for in text or speech, the action required when the virtual assistant detects the phrase, and any potential follow-up questions.
“Amazon Lex takes care of the rest by building a machine learning model that parses the speech or text input from the user, understands the intent behind the conversation, and manages the conversation,” Amazon said in a statement.
We’ve played around with Amazon Lex a little bit, and it’s incredibly easy to build a chatbot using some of Amazon’s stock suggestions. But there are other tools on the market: Facebook-owned Wit.ai also helps build conversational bots, and API.ai does the same with many of the integrations that Amazon touts.
So what are you waiting for? Build an AI bot already and get some VC funding.


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SHIRE of Mundaring councillors have voted against the immediate introduction of a local law to ban single use plastic shopping bags, stating a preference for the WA State Government to enact a state-wide ban.
Council previously agreed to investigate the implications and resources required to introduce a local law within the shire. The report was compiled and presented at an ordinary meeting of council on Tuesday, 8 August.
Deputy Shire President Patrick Bertola said the majority of councillors believed it would be beneficial to wait for the anticipated state-wide legislation rather than individual local governments introducing local laws, which could result in different practices across districts.
"Shire of Mundaring will continue to monitor the progress of the State Government towards a state-wide ban on single-use plastic bags," Cr Bertola said. "We will also monitor legal reviews of the Town of East Fremantle and City of Fremantle local laws banning single use plastic shopping bags".
A report outlining their progress will be brought back to a council meeting in March 2018 for further consideration.


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SRO Motorsports Group’s new GT2 platform is poised to debut at Spa-Francorchamps next year, with planning underway for a launch event during the Total 24 Hours of Spa weekend, according to Stephane Ratel.
Announced last month, the new-for-2019 class, featuring largely production-based supercars aimed at the gentlemen driver market, will be gradually rolled out into SRO’s sprint-based championships over the next 24 months.
While initially tabbed to be part of the British GT Championship next year, Ratel said plans are underway to utilize the Blancpain GT Sports Club as the primary incubator following a launch event, which is targeted for the Spa weekend next July.
“The priority, we’d like to do a launch event with all [cars] that exists, probably at Spa, during the 24 hours, to present GT2,” Ratel told Sportscar365.
“Then we’ll use the Sports Club in Europe as a development series for it; that’s really the idea.
“We’ll see if we’ll have interest from America or Asia with our existing platforms. That’s basically the idea.”
Ratel said that projected car counts for British GT, which will remain with a combined GT3/GT4 grid next year, has led them to re-evaluate the initial launch plans for GT2.
While not prepared to turn away entries, Ratel indicated there will not be a full-season championship for GT2 machinery in the series next year.
“The problem with British GT is that it’s full,” he said.
“My idea is to ultimately seperate GT3 from GT4. I believe that we could get a bigger GT4 grid in UK, as we have in France and as we will have in Germany.
“It will happen when we have GT2 and GT3 forming one grid and GT4 forming another one.”
Instead, GT2 cars will be developed in the Sports Club during the second half of 2019, with the potential of one-off or partial season entries in other sprint championships, such as Pirelli World Challenge.
“Of course if someone buys a GT2 and calls any SRO series and want to run, in any of the sprint series, we’ll consider it,” Ratel said.
Ratel has targeted “five or six” manufacturers for GT2 within the next two years, with significant interest from Lamborghini and Porsche, which has reportedly already been testing a race car based on the GT2 RS.
He expects a mix of existing machinery and all-new cars developed to the platform, indicating that some GT3 and GT4 cars could be “pumped up” to GT2 specification.
“But it’s a different car,” Ratel said. “It’s not GT4 plus because if you do that, you rebuild the car. It’s in fact a completely different car.
“The idea of putting a full 600-horsepower engine into a GT4 Audi will not work. You’d have to change everything from cooling to braking to transmission and everything.”
Audi, Aston Martin Monitoring GT2 Developments
Both Audi and Aston Martin are monitoring GT2 developments but admitted they’re waiting on further technical details and assurances before coming to a conclusion on whether it’s a feasible platform.
Aston Martin Racing president David King told Sportscar365 that he “really likes” SRO’s concept and could eventually see a Vantage GT2 “sprung off” from either its new-for-2019 GT3 or GT4 cars.
However, the British manufacturer’s immediate focus is on its already announced Vantage models.
“The concept is great and something in between GT3 and GT4 is needed, sure,” King said. “We’ve got some ideas around that, but no decisions yet.
“We’ve got a lot of interest in GT3 and that’s where it’s focused right now. I think if we were to talk about GT2 now, we’d probably confuse them.”
Chris Reinke, the head of Audi Sport customer racing, meanwhile, has stressed that GT2 must be “clearly defined” and not have any overlap with existing GT platforms.
“If we find an exact, clear, defined section for GT2, there is enough room,” he said. “But we have to make sure, in the definition, that it’s clarified and we don’t have overlaps.
“If there becomes overlaps, we won’t be interested.”


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IMDb, the popular online film database owned by Amazon since 1998, issued its last major update to the iOS client back in December 2012.
That release (version 3.0) brought out a fresh new look on the iPad while enhancing iPhone filmographies with TV episode details and prettier image galleries, among other features. Today, iMDB version 3.2 landed on the App Store.
The software continues to refine the experience for movie buffs. For starters, non-US users will be pleased to know that the app now lists worldwide movie release dates, for example. They also enhanced the database with all-new actor heights and aliases, crazy credits and other tidbits, included right after the break… Read More


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Living Map, the digital map and data platform that creates a seamless interface between people and places, is pleased to announce new investment of almost £1.2 million of new equity from Committed Capital, Mercia Fund Managers and existing shareholders.
The investment will be the catalyst for a significant expansion of the fast-growing technology company’s product team to meet increasing demand for its map technology services as it scales across several core sectors during 2018.
The global digital map market is expected to reach $7.2bn by 2023*. This growth is fuelled by the emergence of map technologies as an essential enabler of multiple consumer and business applications, from navigating cities to visualising live asset data generated by Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.
Tim Fendley, Founder and MD at Living Map remarked: “The world around us is getting busier and more complicated every day. Our map-based applications, which provide access to timely, relevant location-based information about any environment, are the key to enabling consumers and businesses to find their way.”
Adam Coxen, Living Map’s new Chairman, noted that: “This is a very exciting time for Living Map as the real-time visualisation of geospatial data on mobile devices becomes ubiquitous and a day-to-day necessity.”
Living Map’s platform combines rich, interactive, digital map technology with intuitive information design and powerful features and integrations to create a seamless interface between people and places.
The company’s map technology has already been rolled out at global visitor destinations such as the City of Cleveland and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the rapidly growing B2B mapping sector, Living Map has a global partner in Engie (formerly GDF-Suez). The two organisations are developing bespoke map applications on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis, to enable greater efficiency in building and estate management operations.
Else Thomson, Head of Finance at Committed Capital, commented: “The company has been through significant change over the last quarter, strengthening the management and board with new chairman Adam Coxen, significantly improving the finance and sales functions, and streamlining of strategy.
Julian Dennard, Investment Director at Mercia Fund Managers, commented: “Mercia is pleased to back Living Map at this recent investment round. With its experienced management team under the leadership of Tim and Adam, its key partnerships in place and an already impressive customer base, we’re confident that the business will grow and scale as it moves into this exciting next stage of development.”


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Luxe Vape Junction loses over $5,000 worth of inventory after recent break-in
Over $5,000 worth of vape products and supplies were stolen on Sunday from Luxe Vape Junction in Yigo, according to co-owner Troy Sagun.
Around 6:30 to 7:15 a.m. on March 31, an unidentified person can be seen on surveillance putting items into a bag and briefly pauses after noticing the store’s camera.
A police report has been filed with Guam Police Department, said Sagun.
Sagun says there was no real damages other than inventory scattered across the floors.
In appreciation of the support they have received following the incident, Luxe Vape Junction offered a 50% sale on all vape juice on Tuesday.
Luxe Vape Junction is asking for the public’s help by messaging or calling the vape store if you have any information regarding Sunday’s break-in.


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Triumph Foods' plant set to open late summer/fall.
The 625,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art Triumph Foods packing and processing plant at St. Joseph, MO, is slated to open its doors for business in the next few months, according to Jerry Lehenbauer, company vice president.
About 50 producers representing 342,000 sows across the Midwest own Triumph Foods. Members include some of the industry's top producers including Christensen Farms and New Fashion Pork based in Minnesota, the Hanor Company based in Wisconsin and TriOak Foods based in Iowa.
Others include Eichelberger Farms, a family-owned operation of 19,000 sows in Iowa and Allied Producers Cooperative, made up of more than 30 Midwest pork producers.
The company plans to focus on enhanced food safety and quality pork production. “Our members will be following a uniform set of production standards, including requirements for genetics, nutrition, animal health, animal welfare and food safety,” says Lehenbauer.
“In addition, nearly all of the market hogs delivered by our members will be produced with Triumph Foods' TR4 boar line,” he adds. “Triumph Foods directly controls the TR4 genetic improvement program, which uses an enhanced selection process and information technology system to improve the overall quality of our pork products. We are specifically focusing on leanness, color, texture and marbling.”
Triumph Foods will operate a single-shift production line designed to process in excess of 1,000 hogs/hour, says Lehenbauer. The plant is expected to employee 500 workers and double that number in the first year. Starting a second shift will be based on product sales and available workforce.
Products from the $130 million facility will be marketed and sold by Seaboard Farms, notes Lehenbauer.
The plant and corporate headquarters are being built on 60 acres in the St. Joseph industrial park.
Meadowbrook Farms' First Year
The year 2004 was the first full year of business for Meadowbrook Farms Cooperative, which operates a producer-owned slaughter and processing facility at Rantoul, IL.
The single-shift plant kills and fabricates 3,400 head of hogs a day, producing three million pounds of product a week, according to James Altemus, vice president in charge of marketing and information.
The plant lost money the first three quarters of 2004 due to mechanical start-up problems. But sales and profits improved in the last quarter of 2004 and on into 2005.
Branded pork products are being sold to retail stores from coast to coast, using the popular label slogan, “Farmer-Owned Means Farm Fresh Pork.”
Exports account for 13-14% of product sales. Altemus cites one particular export sales victory: a 20,000-lb. test shipment of chilled pork sold to Japan. The buyer called for a 45-day shelf life (18 days for shipment and 27 days in the store), which Meadowbrook was able to adhere to using its Cryovac vacuum packaging system and paying constant attention to plant hygiene and sanitation.
Meadowbrook touches both ends of the quality spectrum, supplying commodity products to retail outlets and high-end pork to well-known restaurants such as the Chicago Chop House, points out Altemus.
Antibiotic-free is a growing niche market. The Belleville, IL-based company is developing two certification programs. In the classic program, pork is produced without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones or stimulants, pesticides or animal by-products in the feed. The Heritage program involves free-range pork production.
Antibiotic-free pork products are being produced from about 800 hogs a week and shipped to consumers in the Northeast United States.
About 200 cooperative members supply Meadowbrook with hogs from across the Midwest.
Illinois Processor to Build
Carpentersville, IL-based pork processor Trim-Rite has announced plans to build a new slaughter plant just east of Freeport, IL.
The Illinois Department of Agri-culture awarded the processor a $300,000 grant in late March for site preparation.
When completed, the plant will kill 2,000 hogs a day and employ about 200 people. The plant is expected to open in 12-18 months.


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Propus Inc opens a new fixture facility
By Satarupa Chakraborty | June 06, 2018
Propus's new facility is equipped with all latest technologies and machinery to produce both wood and metal fixtures. It’ll also have a special facility for powder coating and laser cutting in future.
In addition to its 25000 sq ft facility in Gurgaon, retail fixture manufacturing firm Propus Inc has recently started a new unit spanning across 75,000 sq ft. The new unit will be equipped to produce both wooden and metal fixtures along with all latest machineries in powder coating laser cutting. It will also house special laser machine with a strength of 4 kilowatt and will be able to cut up to 25 mm of MS sheets.
Vikas Jha, VP – Marketing, Propus Inc, explained to Retail4Growth, “Our idea is to augment our facility and production both. Our existing smaller plant is equally equipped and we are dedicating it to cater to our clientele in liquor brands. As we are poised to take up bigger orders and plan to widen our customer base, the new facility is planned to take up bigger challenges.”
Propus caters to brands like ABFRL, Samsung, Nikon, PMI, Casio, Pernod Ricard, Madame and more.


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|Last year's Young Leaders Conference|
Questex Hospitality + Travel, the world’s largest multinational media, event and e-commerce company serving the global hospitality and travel industry, today announced that its fourth annual Young Leaders Conference (YLC) will be held Sept. 9, 2013, at The Venetian Las Vegas in conjunction with Luxury Travel Exchange International (LTX).
Since its inception, the goal of the Young Leaders Conference has been to create a forum for under-40 travel professionals that showcases industry talent and fosters peer-to-peer networking, education, career development and information-sharing. Participation in the event is open to all travel professionals under the age of 40 including travel agency owners, travel consultants, travel suppliers and industry partners.
Jennifer Fernandez, YLC group show & event director, said research shows peer-to-peer networking was the number-one reason cited for YLC attendance in 2012. Also, 100 percent of participants said they would recommend the event to a friend, business associate or other member of the industry.
“YLC brings together today’s travel leaders and rising stars for a day of non-stop networking and dynamic education designed exclusively for young professionals,” she said. “The event fosters an environment where young business leaders can learn from each other’s experiences, share industry knowledge and discuss relevant topics pertinent to their careers. It is the perfect opportunity to build lasting relationships with industry peers in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.”
Joe Pike, senior editor of Travel Agent magazine and co-host of YLC for the last two years, said the survey results confirm what the event organizers already knew, that this conference has become a "must" for younger advisors looking to hone their skills as travel professionals. “I have no doubt that this year’s event will not only live up to the hype that this conference has generated in its three-year history, but well exceed it,” he said.
Produced by Luxury Travel Advisor and Travel Agent magazines, YLC is the first and only industrywide forum created exclusively for the under-40 travel professional. The event’s dynamic networking and relevant educational programming is guided by a steering committee of young travel professionals. For more information, visit the YoungTravelLeaders.com website or connect on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.


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Although each Dogecoin has a market capitalisation of just $0.00138, it is already the world's third-largest virtual currency, according to Datainfocharts. (For comparison, the current market value of $1 Bitcoin is approximately $600)
- Tags: could dogecoin hit $1
Elon Musk Calls Dogecoin 'My Fav Cryptocurrency'
Android version supports Cosmos (ATOM), Zcash (ZEC), Dogecoin (DOGE) and PegNet (PEG)
Insight Chain Research Publishes Dogecoin Investment Analysis Report.
Jos?: S?, S?. Es sper loco ese caso de Dogecoin.Tags: dogecoin calc
Lorena: Exacto, as?siento Dogecoin.
Star Daily News Cryptocurrencies Exchange ShapeShift is now integrated with Ledger Nano S, and users of Ledger Nano S can now trade with zero commission encryption on the ShapeShift platform. Users of the Ledger Nano S can also receive 100 FOX tokens after they register. (PRWeb)Tags: dogecoin nano s
Originally published on December 6, 2013, Dogecoin describes itself as a "fun and friendly Internet currency," a "decetonation, point-to-point digital currency" created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer.Tags: online currency dogecoin
The actual HISTORY index of TRON price forecasts asks: 'Should I invest in TRON CryptoCurrency?' 'How much will it grow' and 'Should I buy Tron today?' 'According to our forecasting system, TRX is a bad long-term (1 year) investment.Tags: dogecoin should i invest
Nvidia DGX AI server system and Nvidia HGX-2 server platform.
OKEx CEO says DogeCoin is not 'joking' despite Meme cryptocurrenciesTags: harvard dogecoin
In April, OANDA Wanda, the largest U.S. retail forex broker, announced the addition of bitcoin symbols to currency exchangers.Tags: dogecoin exchangers


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The company says the building for its Cupertino HQ is so energy efficient that it even gives clean energy back to the public grid.
Apple has announced it is now globally powered by 100% renewable energy.
The ‘green’ sites include retail stores, offices, data centres and co-located facilities across 43 countries, such as the US, the UK, China and India.
But only 23 of its thousands of suppliers have met that commitment.
The company said 85 additional suppliers are part of a programme to identify commercially viable renewable energy sources, although these are unlikely to include its suppliers with the largest carbon footprint.
Apple says that since 2014, it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by 54% from its facilities worldwide and prevented nearly 2.1 million metric tons of CO2e from entering the atmosphere.
According to Apple, it currently has 25 operational renewable energy projects around the world, totalling 626 megawatts of generation capacity.
It also has 15 more projects in construction which once completed will provide over 1.4 gigawatts of clean renewable energy generation across 11 countries.
Research by scientists at McMaster University in Canada found the smartphone production chain was the most damaging to the environment, part of which was driven by their short shelf life.
These emissions come from the production of the smartphone, as well as the computer processing in the data centres that power their communications.
The company says that its data centres have been powered by 100% renewable energy since 2014.
Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino, Apple Park, is powered by 100% renewable energy from multiple sources, including its rooftop solar installation, biogas fuel cells, and a microgrid with battery storage.
The company says it even gives clean energy back to the public grid during periods of low occupancy.
Chief executive Tim Cook said: “We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it. After years of hard work we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone.
“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”
Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world by market capitalisation, and is currently valued at more than $876bn (£619bn).


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NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo Inc. said Tuesday that its president is leaving after less than a year on the job, indicating a CEO succession may not be coming any time soon.
The Purchase, N.Y., company said John Compton's departure is effective immediately. After joining the soda and snack food giant about 30 years ago, Compton had been named to the newly created position of president in March.
PepsiCo said Zein Abdalla, CEO of its European division, will take over as president. Enderson Guimaraes, who serves as president of the company's global nutrition group, was named to head PepsiCo Europe.
Abdalla and Guimaraes are both 52.
Compton's appointment as president was the centerpiece of a management restructuring that PepsiCo announced this spring. The restructuring was intended to strengthen the company's lineup of potential successors to CEO Indra Nooyi; PepsiCo had faced speculation that Nooyi, 56, would step down amid investor dissatisfaction. She took over as CEO in 2006.
Compton and Abdalla were among those regarded internally as possible candidates.
But Compton's departure may suggest a new CEO won't be in the cards soon.
"Since February, it's been clearer and clearer that Indra is going to run this company for some years to come," said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, the closely watched industry tracker. "I think John wanted to run his own shop, and he realized that was not going to be PepsiCo."
JPMorgan analyst John Faucher said the news was surprising and disappointing. He noted that Compton was viewed positively by Wall Street and seen as one of the candidates likely to become CEO.
Continue reading this story on the...


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The Rockefeller Institute, a research group tied to SUNY, said that sales taxes took a 6.1 percent dive in Q4 of 2008 and Q1 of this year was even worse. Given the current state of the economy of course, this is hardly a surprise. Beyond the obvious reasoning behind the decline — people are losing jobs, making less money and spending less money — the drop may be bad news on another front as it could finally spell the end for the free rides afforded by online shopping. The idea of requiring online retailers to collect sales tax on out-of-state sales has been tossed around over and over again but according to the New York Post, this time around it might just stick. A bill is expected to go before congress as soon as this week that would require online retailers such as Amazon and Overstock, and even the online auction house eBay to collect sales tax on behalf of the state to which items are delivered. This spells certain aggravation for consumers who enjoy saving cash by ordering online and even more so for Internet retailers who will have to implement the new policy.
In New York State where an online sales tax bill was passed last Summer, Web retailers are already in the midst of fighting the new policy. New York’s law now requires any online retailer that advertises on New York-based web sites to collect sales tax when shipping to New York. Amazon and Overstock have both pulled all advertising from websites based in New York in protest.


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The sound of AI: Everything you need to know about Apple's HomePod
25 January, 2018, 00:49 | Author: Abraham Jackson
Apple's delayed HomePod smart speaker will finally be available to buy on Friday in the UK, US and Australia. But Apple has now stated that the home assistant speaker will arrive on February 9 with pre-order commencing in the US, UK and Australia from January 26.
"The speaker will still have an always-on voice assistant, but Apple's implementation of Siri here will be more limited than what's present on other devices", according to The Verge.
Though, Apple has announced partnerships with ABC News, SBS News, 7 News and Fox Sports News to deliver audio headlines through Siri on the HomePod.
After the holiday shopping season came to an end last month, Apple could only morn the missed opportunity it had to satiate the public's demand for the hottest device in tech, the smart speaker. Neither Amazon Echo or Google Home are yet to offer this feature. If your device is compatible with iOS 11 or is already running that version of the Apple OS, then updating shouldn't be an issue. Until the device hears "Hey Siri", it does not send any other communication to Apple, Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, said during the keynote address at WWDC 2017.
Apple markets HomePod as a great speaker first.
Pope stuns Chile with victim-blaming comment
Dozens of protesters, including non-Catholics, attempted to disrupt his March 21, 2015, installation Mass at the Osorno cathedral. Karadima's victims say Barros knew of the abuse, having seen it, but did nothing. "It's all calumny.
President to sign tax reform into law Friday
Supporters have said that this bill will enhance the United States economy as well as lifting the finances of everyday households. Americans in low- and middle-income tax brackets used to be eligible for up to $2,500 a year in student loan interest deductions.
You can now pick up the very similar Google Home for just £129 in the United Kingdom - which is potentially around a third of the HomePod's final price. "It brings advanced audio technologies like beam-forming tweeters, a high-excursion woofer and automatic spatial awareness, together with the entire Apple Music catalog and the latest Siri intelligence, in a simple, handsome design that is so much fun to use", Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said.
In the United States, you can get it through Apple Stores and at select Apple Authorized Resellers, such as Best Buy.
Following David and Louise's arrest, their thirteen children, aged from two to twenty-nine, were taken to hospital immediately. Hestrin explained that the children, ranging in ages from 2 to 29, were starved so much their growth was stunted.
But I feel positive about it", he told the magazine . "There were also some English girls (at Duke), so I talked to them too". The singer went on to say, "She worked on Wall Street in NY , and I had like six shows [around NY in 2015]".
The company boasts 178 million active daily users and an average of 3.5bn snaps are sent every day, statistics indicate . Snap has since confirmed these layoffs, which largely affect those on the content teams in the NY and London offices.
Washington carries out "freedom of navigation" operations that it insists are separate from political considerations. Two U.S. officials confirmed that the USS Hopper had sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough.
Gentry was a free-agent signee by the Chicago Bears and Hollister was a free-agent signee by the New England Patriots. ESPNU and NFL Network will broadcast practices from the Senior Bowl week, which will run January 23-27.
Looking at some alternate time periods, the 12 month price index is 1.04922, the 24 month is 1.40910, and the 36 month is 1.19022. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department acquired 14,615 shares as Intl Business Machines Corp ( IBM)'s stock declined 15.88%.
The button allows creating either a "Loop" which is small 3-second Boomerang like clip or "Fast-Forward" one or two-second clips. You will be able to see all created GIFs in your history and this makes it easy to reuse a GIF when the time is appropriate.
She said he sent her a text that he saw the gunman walk up and shoot the girl in the neck and chest in the school's cafeteria. Edge says both students attended the school in the tiny town of Italy, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Dallas.
Johnson did not mention the idea of a bridge explicitly in public and it was unclear if any detailed discussions had taken place. A spokesperson for the French President denied rumours that Macron responded to Johnson's ideas with "I agree, let's do it".
Range Rover SV Coupe for Geneva
Range Rover has announced it will return to its roots with a stylish two-door limited-edition model dubbed the SV Coupe . The new model is actually a commemorative piece harking back to traditional Range Rovers which featured two doors.
Dolores O'Riordan will be laid to rest today
London's Metropolitan Police told ET last week that the singer's death is not being treated as suspicious . Her spiritual journey continued in many parts of our world, and yet Dolores remained anchored in Limerick.
Captive children were starved, dogs were well-fed
Fellows said detectives are preparing to submit their case to the District Attorney's Office seeking charges against the suspects. When police arrived, some of the children were still shackled to their beds, but the parents had unchained two, Hestrin said.
Lawmakers working on last-minute deal for spending bill
The White House has also said if there's a shutdown, the president plans to place the blame exclusively on Democrats . Republican leaders are racing against a Friday deadline for pushing a short-term spending bill through Congress .
ULA launches missile defense satellite
Thursday's launch was delayed "due to a ground issue associated with the booster liquid oxygen system", ULA wrote on Twitter . It was the 75th flight for ULA's Atlas V rocket and the first from Cape Canaveral for the company this year.


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This Girl Scout selling cookies found the perfect target audience.
An unidentified 9-year-old girl sold more than 300 boxes in six hours outside a marijuana dispensary in San Diego on Saturday, spurring debate about whether it violated Girl Scout rules.
A marijuana dispensary called Urbn Leaf promoted the move with an Instagram photo of the girl with an armful of boxes outside the store.
"Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC today until 4pm!" the company wrote, referring to a strain of pot named for the Girl Scout treats.
The girl's father, who was not identified, told a local ABC affiliate that she sold more than 300 boxes in six hours.
Her sales tactic of catering to munchies-prone customers raised some eyebrows, as well as questions about whether it violated Girl Scout sales rules.
Scouts may not sell on private commercial properties or sites used by the general public, according to Girl Scout regulations.
However, this situation fell into a gray area because the girl didn't set up a booth outside the store; she cruised the sidewalk with boxes of cookies in a wagon, according to local reports.
In a poll, most TODAY fans sided with the enterprising Scout.
"As Girl Scouts, we assume good intent,'' Girl Scouts spokesperson Mary Doyle said in a statement to TODAY. "Should we learn that a girl is in violation of a cookie program standard or guideline, we almost always discover that the parent was unaware of that rule."
Doyle added that if the issue re-occurs, "consequences will be determined."
While her approach was lucrative, she was not the first to have the idea. In 2014, a Girl Scout sold 117 boxes in two hours outside a pot dispensary in San Francisco, according to The Los Angeles Times.
On social media, many applauded the San Diego Scout's sales approach.
"She's resourceful,'' Savannah Guthrie said on TODAY. "She went where the hungry folks were."
Follow TODAY.com writer Scott Stump on Twitter.


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AROUND the holidays, many businesses offer special services, discounts, or deals.
Venmo is teaming up with Chloe and Halle Bailey in an effort to "make wishes come true."
Why is Dear Venmo trending?
On Tuesday, December 14, 2021, Venmo took to their Twitter account to announce their newest holiday special: Dear Venmo.
"We’re teaming up with @chloexhalle to make wishes come true this season," they wrote.
"Follow us & RT this post w/ your Venmo handle & holiday wish. We just might grant it. #DearVenmo."
The tweet also mentioned that for every retweet, they will donate one dollar to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation – up to $500K.
Many users have already hopped on the trend, replying to the Venmo account with their desires for the holiday season.
One user wrote: "I would love to be able to get my very first PC, but I’d rather just get my family some Christmas presents this year. Money is short after spinal surgery and to them at least a little something would be amazing."
"#DearVenmo i'd really love tickets to see olivia rodrigo on tour next year it'd mean a lot if y'all helped a homie out with spending that kind of money on resale prices," wrote another user.
Many users have chimed in asking for help with Christmas presents, credit card debt, and college tuition.
Venmo's original post already has thousands of retweets and likes.
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What is Venmo?
Venmo is a money-sharing app, where users can send and receive money as well as make payments and purchase cryptocurrency.
The company was founded in 2009 and is based out of New York City.
Owned by PayPal, Venmo is considered a peer-to-peer payment platform for mobile devices.
Venmo can also be used as a way to pay freelance employees. The app offers its own MasterCard debit card as well.
Previously, users were not allowed to receive money from a business transaction on a personal account, users had to have a business profile.
Users who don’t want to create a business profile are allowed to accept money for goods and services without violating Venmo's policies – they just have to pay a small fee of 1.9 percent plus an additional ten cents per transaction.
Payment app users have sometimes fallen victim to certain scams and fraudulent requests.
One scam to look out for is an unfamiliar user sending a sum of money "by accident" and then requesting it back at a later time.
The Better Business Bureau has warned this action is often done by scammers using stolen credit cards on their profiles, which they will delete from their account after receiving the money they requested.
In other words, the cash you're sending will go to their personal account, and you'll be the only one with a drained bank account.
Other scams may come in the form of text messages or emails with unfamiliar links offering free money or deals, which users are warned against clicking.
Who are Chloe and Halle Bailey?
Chloe x Halle is an R&B group of two sisters known for their harmonies and expansive range.
After posting covers of songs to YouTube, the sisters got the attention of Beyonce around 2013.
They rose to nearly instant fame. Both girls have done acting as well as singing, starring in shows like Grown-ish and Austin & Ally.
While the two might look like twins, they are actually just sister – Chloe is two years older than Halle.
Their debut album was released on March 23, 2018, and their second studio album was released two years later.
While the two are still releasing music together, they are working on their solo career as well.
Chloe released her debut single Have Mercy on September 10, 2021.
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